Disconnected: Chapter 2

Disconnected: a Look Back on the "Disengagement"

Israel's channel 20 has a series about the "disengagement", that is to say the destruction of the Jewish towns in the Gaza Strip and Northern Samaria and the expulsion of their residents. It is in Hebrew and you can see the first chapter by clicking here. For me, watching this was very, very painful. It brought back all of the bad memories of what happened ten years ago.

Post 9th of Av Post

1) This web site is a must! Go ahead click on the link.

Here's a news report about the web site:

2) Here is another sign of Europe's moral decay.

3) Eight years have gone by since the destruction of Gush Katif.

Uri Ariel Talks About the Expulsion

Parshat Shlach: Of Men and Grasshoppers

This week's Torah portion deals with "the sin of the spies". Ten of the twelve spies that Moses sent to gather intelligence on the land of Canaan were not strong enough in the "faith" department.

"And the LORD said unto Moses: 'How long will this people despise Me? and how long will they not believe in Me, for all the signs which I have wrought among them?"

They did not believe that the children of Israel, with God's help, would be able to conquer the land of Israel. They saw the Canaanites and their fortifications, and they did not believe that they had the military might to beat these people. One verse is quite telling:

"And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight."

Indeed, if a person thinks that he is small and of little worth, it is no wonder that others think of him in the same way.

I myself encountered a "spy" almost eight years ago, in the early days of this blog. To my great sorrow, back then the grasshoppers got their way and the Jews of the Gaza Strip and Northern Samaria were expelled from their homes. It was quite obvious even back then that nothing resembling peace would result from this crime. Now, eight years, thousands of missiles and a few wars later, I wonder if the guy from "Ohel Hidrabrut" has had second thoughts. After all of the suffering that the "disengagement" caused, I wonder if he has repented and become a man.

I Told You So!

This just in:

Israelis who were opposed to the Oslo Accords and the Gaza disengagement have once again been vindicated, said Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, Rav of the town of Har Bracha and the Rosh Yeshiva of the Har Bracha Yeshiva – and they must continually remind their fellow Israelis of how right they were. In this case, he writes in his weekly column in Besheva, Arutz Sheva's weekly magazine, the need to educate Israelis about the dangers of surrendering land to Arabs takes precedence over what many consider to be the breach of courtesy by those who say “we told you so.”

Fine! Here is something that I wrote way back in January, '05:

Soldiers will continue to die when the Arab ingrates blow themselves up at the border crossings which were set up for their economic benefit. Israeli towns and villiages near Gaza will become the victim of PA police snipers. The Islamofascists will continue to target Israeli civilians with homemade missiles and probably with more sophisticated ones that will be smuggled accross the Egyptian border under the Egyptian army's watchful eyes.

I told you so!

Update:A translation of Rav Melamed's full article is here. Please take the time to read it. I particularly liked the following:

It is generally believed that religious people are less realistic, because they rely more on their faith than on an objective analysis of reality, whereas people lacking faith are able to analyze a situation objectively, and as a result, their short-term assessments are more accurate.

Yet here we have a situation where precisely those who are faithful to Torah, the nation, and the land assess the situation accurately, whereas the unbelievers are mistaken in their delusions and false hopes – which repeatedly blow-up in all our faces.

The explanation for this is that they are no less religiously committed – to a form of idol worship. Their god is called ‘Peace Now’ or ‘human rights’. This is exactly the sin of idolatry – taking one value and worshipping it, without giving consideration to balance with other values.

In contrast, Jewish faith is careful to state that God is exalted above all definition, for He is beyond all values, and all of them are included within Him. God desired to grant merit to Israel, and gave them Torah and mitzvoth with the aim of teaching them to balance values. The leftists, who are alienated from their Jewish heritage, are searching for a god who will give hope and meaning to their lives. Many of them previously believed in communism, and embittered the lives of many people. Today, they believe in ‘Peace Now’, and bring all these troubles upon us.

The Best Article About the "Disengagement" Ever

Moshe Dann tells it like it was and is:

The expulsion of 10,000 Jews from their homes five years ago was not a localized event in the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria. It was a national implosion, a national disgrace. It caused enormous physical, psychological, social, cultural, military and strategic damage to the entire nation – and it still does. Like an ecological disaster, its foulness still seeps through our foundations, and continues to poison us.

Undermined by enforcing a political agenda, the entire political system, the media and judicial institutions refused to act responsibly. Basic civil and human rights of Jews were abandoned. Those responsible for welfare and proper compensation misled and lied; led by Sela, the Disengagement Authority, our country was in denial. Our own political and many spiritual leaders – those for whom we voted, in whom we trusted – failed to organize and prevent this catastrophe. Ministers who disagreed were fired; public debate was suppressed.

Read the rest!

"Disengagement" Soldiers Repenting

The Besheva magazine has published some interesting stories lately. Last week, the story was about a secular soldier that took part in the disengagement even though she did not want to. She regrets what she did and is now religious. This week, the story is about a secular soldier that refused to take part in the disengagement. She also became religious and now lives "over the green line".

BTW, the articles are in Hebrew.

Rav Mordechai Eliyahu zt"l

Last night myriads of mourners packed Reines Street in Kiryat Moshe/Givat Shaul. Some of them were fortunate to be right in front of Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu's synagogue. They were able to see those delivering the eulogies. I was not among them. I showed up early for the funeral, but not early enough. Reines Street was already packed with a diverse group of people that came to pay their last respects to one of the greatest rabbis of our generation.

Like I said, it was a diverse group: National religious, "Lithuanians", Hasidim, Sephardim, traditional and even secular Jews were there. The Rabbi was a not only a great Torah scholar of great piety and a wise man, he was also a unifying force in the nation, respected by all.

He loved the nation, and the nation loved him! He was accessible. Anyone who had a question could visit him in his office. You could also catch him on Fridays outside of the Mikvah building. People would wait for him there to ask him questions after his pre-Sabbath immersion. On Sabbath you could catch him on his way back from the synagogue. On such occasions he was surrounded by admirers anxious to ask a question or to hear whatever the rabbi was saying.

He stood on the front lines against the "disengagement". Despite his prayers, the Jewish communities in the Gaza Strip were destroyed and their inhabitants were forcefully expelled from their homes. He did his best to prevent what was a violation of Torah law, a colossal tactical and strategic mistake, a crime against the communities and their inhabitants, and a crime against the Jewish people as a whole.

Rabbi Eliayahu also made his voice heard with regards to another injustice: the continuing incarceration of Jonathan Pollard. Pollard found in Rabbi Eliyahu a spiritual leader and a source of hope.

Our neighborhood was blessed by three giants of Torah: HaRav Shaul Yisraeli zt"l, HaRav Avraham Shapira zt"l and HaRav Mordechai Eliyahu zt"l. All of them were rabbinical court judges and respected authorities of Jewish law. They are gone and they have no replacement!

Israeli General: Disengagement Was a Mistake

I knew that! What he said:

The 2005 disengagement from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria was "utter nonsense" from a security perspective, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yiftah Ron-Tal, at the time OC Ground Forces, said Thursday.

Speaking to Army Radio, Ron-Tal said: "Today it's obvious to everyone - at the time it was perhaps under debate - that this was an event that, besides being rough, was simply utter nonsense from a security perspective."

Ron-Tal further described the pullout as a "terrible event." He said he had opposed the plan "in the deepest sense of the word," security-wise, belief-wise and on the national level, and that he had let this opposition be known.

Vote Orange Because We Were Right!

What Disengagement?

We're back in the Gaza Strip again:

The government authorized the IDF to send ground troops back into central Gaza Tuesday, following an early morning roadside bomb explosion and a rocket-propelled grenade attack that killed one soldier and wounded three others, one seriously.

Hamas warned that it has not agreed to a "calm" and that its previous ceasefire announcement is dependent on Israel's re-opening Gaza crossings to all commercial traffic.

"This is a serious attack," Defense Minister Ehud Barak told soldiers during a visit near a base close to the scene of the attack and at the same time it occurred. "We cannot accept it and we will retaliate. I do not think there is any point in saying how."

He carried out his threat within hours as troops reached Khan Yunis in central Gaza. Local residents reported tank fire and Israel Air Force jets over the area. Arab sources also reported that the Air Force struck a terrorist target, killing or wounding three people, but the IDF has not confirmed the counterterrorist action.

Hamas responded with mortar fire on the Eshkol region, causing no damages or injuries but returned the area to the status quo of the days before the Cast Lead operation against the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza.

The attack on the IDF patrol occurred around 8 a.m., after two or three terrorists were seen by local Arabs to be planting the roadside explosive that was detonated as an army vehicle passed.

Troops opened fire immediately, and one Arab was killed. His identity was not confirmed, and Gaza sources claimed he was a farmer.

The attack came at the same time United States Middle East envoy Sen. George C. Mitchell was scheduled to confer with Egyptian officials prior to his arrival in Israel tomorrow.

And so it goes.

They Were Wrong

Look at what the clowns thought that the "disengagement" would bring us (Hat tip: The Muqata):



The video is misleading with regards to Netanyahu's postition regarding the disengagement:

Netanyahu threatened to resign in 2004 unless the Gaza pullout plan was put to a referendum, but later lifted the ultimatum. He submitted his resignation letter on 7 August 2005, shortly before the Israeli cabinet voted 17 to 5 to approve the initial phase of withdrawals of the Gaza Disengagement Plan. Netanyahu's resignation went into effect 9 August 2005, two days after he submitted his letter.

Background: Gaza and Cast Lead

Here's a video from the IDF Spokesperson's Unit.



The video has its ups and downs. The attempt to differentiate between Hamas terror and Fatah terror is pathetic. At the end of the video you can see two politicians whose bad decisions are largely responsible for the current mess: Ehud Barak who was behind the Lebanon withdrawal and Ehud Olmert who was Sharon's right hand man during the "disengagement". (Now that we are thoroughly "engaged" again, even the leftists must admit that the term "expulsion" is no doubt more accurate.)

The "D Word"

As Kiryat Malachi joins the lists of towns hit by rockets launched by Arabs terrorists in the Gaza Strip, it is interesting to note that there is a particular word that the Israeli MSM refuses to mention with connection to the current situation.

It is the "D Word". Do you know what the "D Word" is? Oh yeah, Disengagement!

Do you remember the disengagement plan? Here's a reminder:

Disengagement has two main purposes, Sharon said: enhancing Israel’s security by reducing terrorism and boosting Israel’s economy by improving the quality of life.

Ariel Sharon, look what you have done! Security? Quality of life? If only you could see the disaster that you caused!

Rabbi Yisrael Rosen Wins Libel Suit Against "Yated Ne'eman"

22 Marcheshvan 5769

Here's some more fallout from the disengagement: Rabbi Yisrael Rosen took the "Yated Ne'eman" newspaper to court for libel, and he won. I know. What does this have to do with the disengagement?

The story starts way back in the beginning of 2005. The Israeli government makes one of the stupidest decisions ever, the decision to to destroy the Jewish towns in the Gaza Strip, and to withdraw the army from it. The name that they gave to this crime was "disengagement". The National Religious Party (NRP) leaves the coalition, and the United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party joins the coalition. Rabbi Yisrael Rosen, a well known NR rabbi, writes a column in the Shabbat BeShabbato parsha sheet deeply critical of the UTJ. Among other things he writes the following:

"ואומר מיד, עם נציג הפלג החסידי אין לי כלל דין ודברים, "כי השוחד יעוור..ויסלף דברי צדיקים", כולל 'צדיקים' (=אדמו"רים). ומה לנו שוחד יותר מקופת המדינה כולה, הממושכנת כערובה אצל יו"ר ועדת הכספים...".

My translation:

"And I will say immediately, that with the Hasidic faction (of UTJ) I have nothing to deliberate with them at all, 'for a bribe doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.', including 'Tzadikim' (=Hasidic Rebbes). And what is a bigger bribe than the purse of the entire country, which is mortgaged as a guarantee with the Chairman of the Finance Committee (of the Knesset)."

These words upset the people at Yated Ne'eman very much. A scathing article about Rabbi Rosen appeared in the satirical section of the paper. This is the quote caused Yated Ne'eman to lose the case:

"אם כבר מזכירים גיור המוני, מן הראוי לציין, כי את תחילת דרכו המקורית עשה הרב רוזן בהפעלת פס ייצור לגיורים המוניים, באמצעות שיטת הוקוס- פוקוס. השיטה היתה פשוטה בתכלית: נרשמים, משלמים במזומן, שומעים כל מיני הרצאות בנושאי יהדות-בדרכי-נועם, לומדים תפריטים נבחרים מהמטבח היהודי, עוברים עוד אי-אילו עניינים פרוצדוראליים, קופצים למים, ו...הוקוס-פוקוס: אתה יהודי חילוני כשר. ברוכים הבאים לעם הנצח.

Again the translation according to your's truly:

If we are mentioning mass conversion, it is proper to point out that the beginning of Rabbi Rosen's original path was the running of an assembly line for mass conversions, using the hocus-pocus method. The method was ultimatively simple: you register, you pay cash, you hear all kinds of lectures about ways-of-pleasantness-Judaism, you learn selected menus from the Jewish kitchen, you go through a few procedural matters, you jump into the water and... hocus-pocus: you are a kosher secular Jew. Welcome to the nation of eternity.

The judge, Shirli Renner, wrote the following about this:

הצגת התובע, שהינו רב, כמי שמספק הכשרים לעקיפת ההלכה תמורת בצע כסף נועדה להשפיל ולבזות את התובע. הנתבעים בתצהיריהם לא הניחו כל תשתית ראייתית ולפיה מצג עובדתי זה הוא בגדר אמת. מדובר אפוא בפרסום שאין כל ראייה לאמיתותו ולפיו מספק הרב הכשרים הילכתיים בשל תאוות ממון. סבורה אני כי אמירות אלו הן בגדר לשון הרע.

That is to say in Mamme Loshon:

The presentation of the plaintiff, who is a rabbi, as one who supplies certification for the circumventing of Jewish law in return for money was intended to humiliate and put down the plaintiff. The defendants in their declarations did not bring any proof that this presentation is true. Therefore we are dealing with a publication that has no proof to (back up) its truthfulness, which according to it the rabbi provides halachic certification out of the desire for money . I am of the opinion that these statements are in the realm of libel.

A bizarre aspect of the case is that the rabbinic committee of Yated Ne'eman, which is supposed to be a spiritual supervising body of the paper, instructed the editors to react to Rabbi Rosen's article in the satirical section of the newspaper . Even more bizarre is that Yated Ne'eman claimed in its defense that the article is not libelous since it appeared in this satirical section of the newspaper. The judge did not accept this claim.

The bottom line is that Yated Ne'eman - Yeteidot Publications, Yisrael Wertzel (Wortzel?), Yitzchak Rot, and Natan Grossman were found by Judge Renner to be responsible for the libelous publication. The amount of damages will be set at a later hearing.

I can understand how the Yated Ne'eman newspaper, and the public which they serve, would be offended by Rabbi Rosen's article. But that does not justify printing things about Rabbi Rosen that have no basis in fact. I hope that the amount of damages will be high enough to deter the newspaper and others from publishing things that are so distant from the Torah that they purport to represent.

The "Peace Process" Corrupts

One of the propaganda cliches of the Israeli Left is that the "occupation corrupts". Every social ill was attributed to the fact that the State of Israel was "ruling over another nation". Empirical evidence was never brought to support such a hypothesis which was presented as a proven fact. It was not in vain that our sages referred to this world as "'alma d'shiqra", the world of falsehood.

I would like to present an alternative hypothesis which states that the so called "peace process" corrupts. The thought occurred to me as I read about the murder of crime boss Ya'aqov Alperon, in which innocent bystanders were also wounded. This is a relatively new phenomenon, that the Israeli mafia is indifferent to harming innocent bystanders during "the settling of scores." Could it be that this indifference is a shadow of the indifference of the Israeli government to the acts of murder, maiming and terror perpetrated by our Arab "peace partners"? Has not the life of the average man on the street become cheap ever since the establishment of the "New Middle East" by Rabin, Peres, Aloni, Sarid, Beilin and Der'i?

With regards to the Israeli MSM, it seems that the "peace process" increased the corruption of a band that was already rotten to the core. The guarding of the etrog, Ariel Sharon, as long as he was intent on destroying Jewish towns in the Gaza Strip is a good example of this corruption. The Israeli MSM was an active participant in selling this outrageous idea to the public. They parroted the government terminology of "disengagement", "they are over there and we are over here", instead of questioning the wisdom of what now history has proven to be a disaster.

There has never been a government more corrupt than the current one, and there has never been a party more corrupt than "Kadima". Both of these creatures are the products of the "peace process". When Olmert brought convicted sex offender Haim Ramon back into the government did he not teach us all that crime does pay? The main thing is that Ramon supports the "peace process".

Let's not forget Oslo accomplices Alexander Goldfarb and Gonen Segev! Their deserting of the right wing Tzomet party in order to receive positions in the Rabin government and vote for Oslo II was a clear cut case of political bribery. But all was forgiven in the name of "peace".

It seems that the police force discovered that it is much easier to beat up teenagers in Amona and to harass the Federman family than to deal with car theft, burglaries and organized crime. The policemen that took part in the expulsion received a special bonus.

The courts are also party of the corruption brought about by the "peace process". There is no equality before the law as right wing protester that blocks a road will receive jail time where anyone else receives a slap on the wrist. This is of course to deter the opponents of the "peace process".

In short the "peace process" in its various stages has caused a moral breakdown in many Israeli governmental bodies and consequently in society in general. This only strengthens our desire to see a true Jewish government, driven by true Jewish morality. May we merit to see it.

We Need To Be Faithful To The Torah

This week's Besheva magazine is devoted mainly to commemerating the second anniversary of the destruction of the Jewish communities in the Gaza Strip and Northern Samaria and the expulsion of their residents. I was particularly struck by what the legendary doctor of Gush Katif, Dr. Sodi Namir, had to say.

לד"ר סודי מצידו יש ביקורת נוקבת על הציבור הדתי לאומי, שלוקה לדבריו באי קבלת מרות של הרבנים הגדולים: "אצל החרדים גדלות בתורה זה הדבר הבלעדי והקובע, ולא יקום מאן דהוא ויצפצף נגדו. אצלנו כל אחד תופס מיקרופון, רשאי להביע את כל מה שיש לו. כשאנו נראים כך, התוצאות הן בהתאם". בחירתו של מנהיג חילוני לראשות מועצת יש"ע, היא לדעתו סימפטום נוסף לחולי בציבור הדתי: "אנחנו ציבור שהתורה רק מפריעה לו במובנים מסוימים. לוקחים את המדינה כערך בפני עצמו ומכופפים לזה הכול. מגיעים למצב שיו"ר יש"ע המתחדשת הוא אדם בלי כיפה וזה לא מפריע לאף אחד. אנחנו מעמידים בראשנו אנשים שלא חיים לפי מערכת ערכים של תורה, והרי ראינו לאיזה ערכים מושחתים אפשר להגיע בלי תורה".

A rough translation:

Dr. Sodi Namir has a piercing criticism of the national-religious public, which according to him is afflicted with a lack of acceptance of the authority of the great rabbis. "By the ultra-Orthodox greatness in Torah is the only thing that counts, and nobody will rise up and 'chirp' against it. By us, anyone who grabs a microphone and is allowed to express what he feels. When we appear like this, the results are in accord."

The election of a secular leader as the head of the Yesha Council, is according to his opinion another sympton of illness in the national-religious public: "We are a public that the Torah bothers in certain ways. We take the state as a value unto itself and we bend everything according to it. We have arrived at a situation where the head of the Renewed Yesha Council is a man without a yarmulke and this doesn't bother anyone. We are putting at our head people that do not live according to the Torah value system, and we have seen what corrupt values one can arrive at without Torah."

Is anyone in the national religious public listening?

Yoel Marcus Admits That Disengagement Was A Mistake

Check this out! Unilateral disengagement cheerleader Yoel Marcus wakes up (sort of) and smells the coffee (hat tip to Batya):

Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement turned out to be a serious mistake. It gave terror a boost, allowed the Iranians to call the shots in Gaza instead of the Egyptians, fueled anarchy in the Palestinian street and pushed the chances for an agreement even further away.

Dr. Aaron Lerner also noticed Marcus' article and he had this to say:

Yoel Marcus played an important role as key supporter and advocate of retreat from Gaza. He suggested on the pages of Haaretz that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon would be able to avoid his legal problems if he launched a withdrawal initiative and, viola!, soon thereafter Marcus was Sharon's confidant, enjoying scoops about Sharon's decision to launch - what a coincidence - a retreat plan. Marcus transformed into Sharon's biggest fan and leading cheerleader for retreat.

This column by Marcus sounds more like someone shooting his mouth off at a local pub than a serious piece (the idea that Israel could get away with destroying blocks of buildings as a form of collective punishment certainly sounds more logical after a couple of pints) but he made his way back to his "Oslo religion" with a traditional re-hash in paragraph 15 and a dangerous bout of wishful thinking in paragraph 16.

Here are the aforementioned paragraphs 15 and 16:

15. So what are we going to do with Gaza? Occupy it? We have already done that. What have we achieved by that, apart from occupation? Haven't we learned that occupation is like riding on a tiger's back? All the fleas go along for the ride. There are no overnight solutions. What we need are leaders endowed with both brains and brawn - courageous leaders prepared to talk to Syria, Saudi Arabia and all the Sunni Islamic countries in order to reach a comprehensive agreement. Only that will put an end to Hamas.

16. The time has come to stop going into a panic every time Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threatens to destroy Israel. He is just a show-off with a very big mouth. The ayatollahs are the ones who say what's what and make the decisions in Iran. They will cut off his hands before he ever reaches the red button.

I am glad that Marcus is a journalist and not a minister in the government. On the hand, he is one of Israel's most influential journalists, if not the most influential. And that my friends tells us a lot about the Israeli MSM.

Some Pics From The Mosad HaRav Kook Book Sale

Outside Mosad HaRav Kook another book seller takes advantage of the crowds to sell his own wares. You can see Jerusalem Calatrava Bridge under construction in the background:



I like the guy who still has the orange ribbon attached to his knapsack. The crime of the "disengagement" is a wound that will only be healed when the settlements are rebuilt and repopulated.



The facade of Mosad HaRav Kook looks a little haggard with that leaning reish:



The sale brings Jews of many types together, as one would expect from "The People of the Book":